This book tackles three choices that face developers of L2 writing assessments: defining L2 writing abilities; collecting evidence of those abilities (usually by getting L2 writers to write something); and judging their performance (usually by assigning a score or grade to it). It takes a historical view of how assessment developers have made those choices, how contemporary practices emerged, and of alternative techniques that have risen and fallen over time.
The three sections each tackle one of these choices. The first considers the social functions that define L2 writing and assessment; the second relates how assessment tasks have adapted to changing conceptions of languages, writing, and assessment; and the third explores how scoring systems have evolved. Each section brings the reader up to date with current issues confronting writing assessment (both in large-scale testing and in language classrooms) before considering the new opportunities and challenges of the digital age. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners in language assessment, language education, and applied linguistics.
Author(s): Anthony Green
Series: Research and Practice in Language Assessment
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 276
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Tables
Part I: Getting Started with L2 Writing
Chapter 1: Introduction
Starting from Definitions
Key Terms
Writing Meaning 1: A Technology for Recording Language
Writing and Speech: A Complex Relationship
Lost in Transcription
The Global Spread of Writing
Writing Meaning 2: Putting Writing to Use
Writing as Activity
The Uses of Writing
Writing and the Social Order
Writing and Assessment
The Nature of Assessment
Assessment and Schooling in Ancient Societies
Public Examinations
Power, Surveillance, and Social Control
Access to Writing
Resisting the Advance of Literacy
Promoting Universal Literacy
Monoglossia and Heteroglossia
Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces
Other Meanings of Writing: Speech, Script, Text, and Profession
Texts and Social Contexts
Audio and Video Recording
L2 Writing Assessment and Text Types
Conclusions: Defining L2 Writing for Assessment
References
Part II: Getting Writers to Write
Chapter 2: Public Education, Rhetoric, and Examinations
Writing at Home, at School, and in the Public Sphere
Writing in School
Differences Between Writing in L1 and L2
Origins of L2 Writing Assessment
Rhetoric and Composition in the Language Classroom
From Oral Disputation to Written Examination
Written Composition in the Classroom
The Expansion of Public Education
Examinations in Modern Languages
Composition in Written Examinations
Prose Composition and Free Composition
The Reform Movement and Examinations
The Functions of School Examinations
Conclusions: The Nineteenth-Century Legacy
References
Chapter 3: The Dawn of the Language Test
Scientific Management in Education
Holding Teachers and Schools Accountable for Results
Testing and Social Efficiency
Educational Psychology and the New Era of Educational Measurement
School Surveys
Objections to Social Efficiency
Testing the World
Funding Efficiency
Meeting Resistance
The International Examinations Inquiry
Tests as Tools for Academic Selection
Composition and New Type Tests of Languages
The Appeal of New Type Testing
Foreign Language Learning: The State of the Art
Linguistic Science Enters the Fray
Applied Linguistics and the Expansion of English
The Birth of a Language Testing Profession
The Launch of TOEFL
Language Testing Outside the US
Conclusions: The Impact of the Efficiency Movement
References
Chapter 4: Assessment Trends and the Revival of Writing
Putting the Ingredients Together Again: Alternatives to Standardised Testing
Work Samples and Performance Tests
Compositions as Work Samples
Educational Objectives
Programmed Instruction and Mastery Learning
Criterion Referenced Testing
Criticisms of Mastery Learning
Composition Studies
Learner-Centred Composition
College Composition
The Process Approach
The Widening Scope of Applied Linguistics
Building on the Lado Model
CREDIF and the Council of Europe
Communicative Language Testing
The English Language Testing Service
Graded Objectives in Modern Languages
Communicative Use of English as a Foreign Language
Challenges for CLT
The Relationship Between Test and Criterion
Extended Writing Displaces Structure and Written Expression
Conclusions: Communicative Competence
References
Chapter 5: Shifting Views of L2 Writing
L2 Writing as Distinct from Communicative Language Ability
Models for the Assessment of L2 Writing
Criticisms of Contemporary L2 Writing Tests
L2 Writing Tests as Situated Practices
Ethical and Critical Perspectives
Language Policy Orientations
Plurilingualism and Pluriculturalism
Plurilingual, Pluricultural Testing
Portfolio Assessment and Writing Portfolios
The European Language Portfolio
Writing Portfolios
Writing Portfolios and Construct Representation
Writing Portfolios as High Stakes Assessments
Conclusions for Part II: Getting L2 Writers to Write
References
Part III: Judging Language Learners’ Writing
Chapter 6: Compelling Consensus: From Mark Schemes to the Scaling of Samples
Compositions and the New-Type Testing Revolution
Counting Errors
Comparative Judgement
Scaling Samples
Criticism of the Hillegas Scale
Sample-Based Scales and Reliability
Further Refinements and Innovations
Objections to the Method of Samples
Reactions from Teachers
The Quest for Reliability
The Unreliable Truth about Essay Scoring
Traditional Examinations and Reliability
Testing and Teaching
Conclusions: Achieving Efficiency of Scoring in the US and Europe
References
Chapter 7: Rating Scales and Beyond
From the Method of Samples to Descriptor-Based Scales
Impressionistic Rating
Rating Scales for Compositions
Qualities or Behaviours?
Classifying Raters
The Q-Technique
Options for Rating Scales
Progress, Proficiency, and Accountability
Keeping Track of Learning
Outcomes-Based Assessment
The FSI Scales and the Proficiency Movement
Progress, Proficiency and Accountability
The Triumph of Technology
Sidney Pressey and the Teaching Machine
Automating the Scoring of New-Type Tests
Automated Essay Scoring
The Wisdom of the Machine
Educational Effects of Automated Scoring
Questioning Reliability
Pluralism in Evaluating L2 Writing
Dynamic Criteria Mapping
Conclusions
References
Chapter 8: Directions in L2 Writing Assessment
Purposes and Consequences in L2 Writing Assessments
Stakeholders in Assessment
Selection and Guidance
You Get What You Assess
Teaching and Assessment Synergies and Tensions
Directions for L2 Writing Assessment Research
References
Index
